Still not dating
by thetwistedcelestials
Summary: Sequel to 'Not dating'. Stiles and Danny talk about how to deal with their friends and family thinking that they're dating. Their attempts at spreading the truth goes surprisingly smoothly. But, along the way, they start wondering why everyone thought they were together in the first place.
1. Chapter 1

Still not dating

1/5

Author's notes: Wow, it's been a while since "Not dating" was put up. Hope you guys are still interested in a sequel, 'cause it's going up regardless. This one is finished (no cliffhanger this time) and I'll be uploading the rest over the next few weeks.

Constructive criticism is welcome.

"So...do you find me attractive?"

The boys continued looking at each other.

"...well..." Danny gave Stiles a mockingly-serious once-over. "Meh."

"What?!" Stiles asks, outraged (though the giant grin on his face kind of screws-up the effect). "Well, I never!" He hits Danny with a throw pillow. "I'm a GREAT catch and you know it."

Danny laughs at Stiles' over-the-top reaction, fending him off the pillow with his own. "Well, you know, come to think of it..." He gives Stiles another once-over, when the other pauses. "...I've _had_ better." He winks at Stiles.

"Oh, I'll show YOU better!" Stiles says, tackling the laughing teen. "You'd be lucky to have a piece of this. Hell, you should just be honored to even LOOK at my magnificence!" He manages to pin Danny to the couch, who's feebly struggling against Stiles and his laughter.

"Sure, whatever you say, Casanova," Danny replies as he slips out of Stiles' hold, wrestling them both to the floor. Stiles reached up and managed to snag Danny's striped shirt, but Danny slips out of the shirt, backing away warily. Stiles tosses the shirt aside with a growl.

"You're not getting away that easy, bucko! You're going to admit I have a hot ass."

Danny smiled wickedly, eyes dancing, hands out to the side. "Bring it, hot stuff."

The two boys circled around each other, feinting at each other, trying to lure the other in. This time, Danny lunged at Stiles, managing to pin him on the couch. "Aw, poor Stiles. Were you distracted by the gun-show?" Danny flexed a tanned arm, sitting on Stiles' legs to keep him pinned. Stiles snorted in response, wiggling his hips to break free. Shifting his weight in response, Danny's knee rubbed against Stiles' side and the other teen...twitched.

Danny could feel the mischievous smile spreading across his face. Gaze locked with Stiles, Danny deliberately lowered a hand to Stiles' side, ignoring the horrified whimpering noises. "Are you...ticklish?" he asked, ghosting a hand down Stile's ribs. Stiles twitched again.

"NO!" Stiles denied.

"I think someone's ly-ing..." Danny sing-songed. "It's TICKLE TIME!"

"NOOOOOOO! Hahaha, stop, nononononono!" Danny's fingers were everywhere, running up and down Stiles' ribs. His struggling wasn't doing any good; it was actually making it worse, since his shirt was riding up, giving Danny access to bare skin. "Ahahaha...nooooo~!"

Stiles squirmed and twisted, but Danny pinned his arms, trapping them above Stiles' head one-handed. "AUGHHHHHH!" Stiles moaned, as Danny hit a particularly sensitive spot. The damn teen's clever fingers were everywhere, running up and down Stiles' vulnerable sides. "Uncle! Uncle!"

Danny finally relented with a wide smile stretching his flushed cheeks, sitting back slightly on Stiles' legs. He was surprisingly out of breathing.

Stiles returned the smile, panting for breath. "Damn, you've learned my one true weakness." The other teen just grinned back at him toothily.

"Yeah, I win by default from now on."

Mock-scowling, Stiles grabbed at Danny's side. Raising an eyebrow at him, Danny smirked. Stiles tried again, moving up Danny's ribs. Danny's mocking smirk widened.

"Seriously? Nothing?" Stiles ghosted a hand up-and-down, Danny stubbornly refusing to react.

"Two older siblings. Immunity was necessary to survival." Danny shrugged at the unspoken 'unfair' in Stile's glare. Danny shrugged again, saying "You'll never find my ticklish spot."

"Ah-ha! So there IS one!" Stiles re-doubled his efforts. Maybe he's not sensitive enough? He watched Danny for any reaction as he slide his hands up the other teen's torso, grinning when Danny grunted in response. Stiles ghosted up his friend's warm skin, but Danny went back to being a rock. Stiles pouted again. He opened his mouth, "C'mon, Danny, wh-"

Someone coughed, loudly, behind them. They both looked up to see Stiles' dad in sweats and a tee, cheeks flushed. "Danny. Stiles." He cleared his throat, eyes meeting theirs briefly before darting to the wall behind them. "Son, you know the rules. I think it's time Danny headed home."

Stiles and Danny blinked at the sheriff, then at one another. They took in their mockery of intimacy: Danny, sitting on a nearly shirt-less Stiles' lap. Stiles caressing Danny's shirtless (and rather muscular, seriously, how often did he workout?) torso. Stiles carefully met Danny's eyes. Danny stared back, biting his lip.

Stiles wasn't sure who started it, but they both burst into helpless laughter. _Oh, this is not going to help those rumors…_

"Danny...probably...not...helping!" Stiles choked out as Danny fell on top of him. Danny hide his face, laughter bubbling and warm against Stiles' neck. Stiles, for his part, couldn't meet his dad's eyes, afraid that if he saw his dad turn any more red, the laughter would never stop.

When it was apparent the two teens were going to be laughing for a while, Stiles' dad cleared his throat again and left the room, tossing back a reminder to clean-up. He trusted Stiles to follow the rules (on occasion).

It took a few minutes, but the boys finally managed to stop giggling. Stiles pulled out a pillow sitting uncomfortably under his hips, almost knocking Danny off the couch. The other teen hadn't made a move to climb off Stiles yet, but Stiles didn't exactly mind the warm body on top of him. It was a chilly night. Danny shifted his weight so he was half on the couch and half on Stiles, still shaking with the occasional chuckle. It was oddly intimate.

Stiles mock-leered at Danny. "Comfy?"

"Mmm…warm. You make a nice pillow…" Danny batted his eyes at Stiles, head resting on the other boy's chest. "Snookums."

Stiles groaned. "No. Absolutely no cheesy pet names," he said. "One of us has to have standards in this fake relationship."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm here."

"No, you're the arm candy. I'm the brains of this operation."

Danny snorted. "Yeah, right. You're totally the Pinky to my Brain, dude."

"As if! You're the Robin to my Batman. No, you're Alfred, the butler."

"Oooh, ouch, dude. Burn." Danny rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows Alfred was a total badass. Like Willikins."

"Willikins? Like, Lady Sybil and Sir Vime's butler, Willikins?"

Danny nodded. "Bit off a guy's nose..."

"…childhood weapon of choice was a hat with sharpened pennies sewn into the brim..."

"…'accidentally' stabbed a flamethrower-wielding assassin with an ice pick..."

Stiles considered this for a moment. "Okay, fine. You can be Batman's BAMF butler."

"Thank you. Ever so kind of you," Danny mumbled into Stiles chest.

Stiles grinned at Danny sleepily (him lying on top of Stiles probably should have been weird, but Stiles had always been a tactile person). "'m falling asleep. Again."

His laugh tickled Stiles' skin, his arms snaking around Stiles' chest. "Yeah, I kind of see why your dad thinks we're dating, with your habit of falling asleep on me."

Stiles scrubbed his face, trying to wake himself up. "Hey, that only happened, like, twice. Wait," he counted silently in his head, "or maybe three? Four times? Whatever." He yawned widely. "You're lying on me this time. Totally different."

Danny smirked. "Well, you're just very comfortable." Stiles smiled in response, oddly pleased.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, the movie playing again in the background. Eventually, Danny slowly disentangled himself from Stiles, ignoring the teen's protests. "I should probably get going."

"Yeah, I guess it's kind of late." Stiles yawned again, going into a full body stretch. "Oh, that's okay. I'll get that later," he tells Danny when he starts putting the family room to rights. "Lemme walk you to the door."

Danny insists on picking up the living room a little and, with the two of them cleaning, the family room ends up pretty much the way as it was at the start of the night. They work in companionable silence, not wanting to disturb Stiles' dad. Danny grabs his backpack and Stiles brings up their revelation again as they walk to the door.

"So, in all seriousness, what should we do about the fake dating thing? I wouldn't want to make your boyfriend jealous."

"Ex-boyfriend."

"Huh?"

"Ex-boyfriend," Danny repeats, shrugging uncomfortably. "We broke up a little while ago."

"Aw, dude. Sorry to hear that." Stiles tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me? We could've had a bro night."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, kind of what I was trying to avoid." He sighs. "It's okay, he was kind of a jerk."

"So, why were you dating him?"

"Well, he was hot."

Stiles laughs. "Dude, seriously? C'mon, you have to have higher standards than that."

"Well…" Danny grinned wickedly. "There was this one thing that he did with his tongue when we were…"

"Augh!" Stiles clapped hands over his ears. "TMI! TMI!"

Danny laughed, pulling Stiles arms down. "Oh, you know you want the details."

"Please. Awkward teenaged fumbling? I get enough of that from Scott."

"Ha, tell me about it. I still remember when Jackson and Lydia first starting going out." Though it probably wasn't quite the way Stiles was thinking; Danny still remembers going online together, trying to help Jackson figure out how to 'make it feel good' for her (seriously, asking the gay guy about women? How cliché). "Anyways, what are we going to do about our supposedly secret, wild romance?"

"I dunno. I guess we could just talk to them about it." Stiles shrugged. "It'll probably blow over on its own anyway."

"Well, wouldn't want it getting in the way of your romances, eh, Casanova?"

Stiles really hoped that nickname didn't stick. "Ha, ha. Yes, my wild and crazy social life would take such a hit. The guys and gals are just beating down my door. Anyways, I'll talk with Scott sometime. I doubt it's spread all that far."

_Guys?_ Danny thinks to himself. "Sounds good. I'll talk with Jackson too, just in case. Are you going to talk with your dad?"

"Oh man, yeah. Dude, I can't believe he was grilling you at dinner. Sorry about that."

Danny shrugged sheepishly. "He wasn't so bad."

"Well, thanks for being cool about it."

"Whatever," Danny grinned easily at Stiles. "So, this was fun. We should do it again sometime, yeah?"

"Totally."

"Well, night."

"Night."

Danny hesitated at the door. There's an awkward pause, as both teens try to figure out if they should shake hands or wave or what. Stiles solved the problem with a roll of his eyes, pulling Danny into a quick hug with an off-hand "I think we're past the handshake phase. But I don't kiss on a first date." Smiling at each other, Danny headed to his car and Stiles went upstairs to get ready for bed.

_This has been a good night, _Stiles thinks as he falls asleep.

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

Groaning, Stiles haphazardly waved his hand at the noise. "Make it stop…" he mumbled, striking randomly. "Sleeeeep…" His hand eventually connected with his alarm clock, shutting off the too cheerful radio DJ blathering about some celebrity. Or music. Or something.

"…unnnnh…" rolling over and wrapping himself in his blankets, Stiles prepared to sleep the morning away. "…alarm…need to turn you off…weekend…" he grumbles as he attempted to drift-off again. He turned around, trying to find a more comfortable position. But it's no use; his brain was awake and… Stiles sniffed the air. Was that…bacon?

…bacon would be nice.

Groaning, he sat up in bed and stretched. Untangling his legs from his comforter and slipping on a sweater, shivering in the chilly winter air, he followed the smell of sizzling bacon down to the kitchen, finding his dad at the stove.

"Morning Dad," Stiles says around another yawn. "Bacon?"

His dad waved. Without turning around, he said, "Before you start, it's turkey bacon; you got rid of the real stuff."

Stiles grinned at his dad, manfully resisting urge to pat him on the head. Slumping down at the kitchen table, head in his hands, he asks if his dad needs any help (though breakfast was the one meal he let his dad cook).

"You could make some toast. And coffee. Coffee is good." Neither of them was a morning person. Stiles shuffled to his feet to comply; between the two of them, they managed to have breakfast on the table in a few minutes. They ate silently, waking up slowly to what would hopefully be a lazy Saturday morning. Stiles contemplated what he wanted to do as he chewed on the delicious bacon. Research, maybe? Gaming? Intriguing.

While Stiles was still mulling his plans over, his dad cleared his throat. Stiles looked up. _Uh-oh. That's his 'we-need-to-talk' face_, Stiles thinks to himself.

"What's up, Dad?" When his dad looks uncomfortable, Stiles gets even more nervous.

His dad cleared his throat again. "I just thought we should talk. About Danny. You and Danny. Being…safe." A blush was slowing rising on his neck.

Stiles took a moment to figure out what his dad is talking about. His eyes widen when he figures it out. "Oh. My. God, Dad, no we-"

His dad interrupts, not meeting his eyes. "I know we've had this talk before. And I'm not going to ask for details, but if you want, I can pick up some pamphlets about safe…erm…safe sex." They're both bright red now. "Between men. Just so I know that the two of you are being. Safe. With each other." He cleared his throat again. "Just…yes. And, if you want to talk about anything. Just, um…I'm here."

"Oh my god! Dad, Danny and I aren't dating!" Stiles exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. "Just…no…I mean, Danny is great and all, but we're not…he's not…I'm…" Stiles brain hurt. His day had been going so well. It had started with bacon (albeit turkey bacon, but still, bacon!). He did not expect to be ambushed by the sex talk with his dad (again).

His dad frowned at him. "Stiles…" he sighs. "You don't have to hide this from me."

_He looks disappointed. Crap. _"Seriously Dad. Dad," Stiles said, catching his dad's eyes. "Danny. And I. Aren't. Dating. Okay?" Stiles looked at his dad, willing him to believe him.

"Really?" Stiles nodded. "Oh…but…I mean, you guys…" His dad looked at him again, confused. "Are you sure?"

"Dad, I'm pretty sure I would know if I was dating Danny." _Pretty sure, anyway,_ Stiles thinks. ""If we were dating, I would be shouting it from the rooftops. I would be printing posters if I managed that feat. I mean, Danny's…" Stiles pauses. "Danny's…he's pretty hot," he mumbles.

"Oh…okay. Um…sorry."

Stiles waved his hands, sweeping it under the rug, trying to will his blush (and certain thoughts of Danny) away. "No, no, it's fine." This time, it's Stiles that clears his throat. "But, um…why did you think that?" Stiles asks, figuring he might as well.

"Well, I, uh…" his dad stumbles, his mouth falling open as he looks for an answer. "Um…I, uh…may have walked in on you guys. A couple of times." The blush is coming back. "When you were, uh…cuddling. On the couch."

Stiles felt an answering blush building. "Oh my god…" he groans, covering his face in his hands.

"You guys looked really cute," his dad continues, teasing. "Maybe you should think about it."

Stiles groaned again.

"I mean, Danny would make a great boyfriend. I would approve of him; he seems like a good influence on you. Stable, courteous." Stiles dad continued, warming to the subject. "And I wouldn't have to worry about either of you getting pregnant. You should ask him out son."

Oh god, his dad almost sounds like he's actually given the idea actual thought. Stiles groaned, letting his head fall onto the table. "How is this my life?"


	2. Chapter 2

Still not dating (part 2 of 3)

"Let's break up the wonder twins; they're going to read each other's minds," Danny suggests. "I can go with Scott and Allison can go with Stiles."

"Dude, I can't shoot at my girlfriend!" Scott exclaims. Allison laughs.

"Well, how fair would it be for the markswomen and the lacrosse master to be on the same team?" Stiles protests.

"Which one of us are you referring to?" Scott asks, sharing a look with Danny.

Stiles waves at him. "You, of course. Danny's our goalie, so his skills wouldn't give him that much of an advantage."

Danny scoffs. "Right. You do realize that I do play more than just the goalie, right?"

Giving him a playful grin, Stiles answers, "And yet you're stuck in the goal, where you can do the least amount of harm…"

Danny retaliates by trying to put him in a headlock, devolving into a wrestling match while an amused Allison and Scott look on.

The four of them were at the local laser tag arcade, trying to pick teams. Scott and Stiles hadn't been in a while and Scott figured Allison might want to comegive it a try.. Stiles had invited brought Danny, since they had been hanging out when Scott texted.

"Hey, what about…" Stiles starts, only to be interrupted a series of enthusiastic yells. A horde of kids barrel past them, crowding around the an alarmed looking employee. Stiles raises raised his eyebrows. "Ooo-kay?"

Another employee, on the way to help register the kids, noticess the teens' observing the kids. "13th birthday party; they have a reservation," she explains.

"Ahh…lot of energy," Danny nods, giving her a sympathetic smile. "I remember dealing with those when I was working at the ice cream shop last year."

She (her name tag saidys 'Stacey') rollss her eyes in response. "Yeah, it's always fun trying to wrangle them. Were you guys going to play a game?"

The group nods. "We were planning on it, but we couldn't figure out how to split the teams."

Stacey gives them a considering look. "Hm…wWhat would you guys think about going 8 on 4 with the kids? It might cut down on the wait time." She nods at the birthday kids, who seem to be yelling at each other with a similar problem. "You guys could go easy on them, right?"

Scott and Stiles give each other a mischievous grin, turning to Allison and Danny, who have matching expressions on their faces. "I think we could work with that."

"Okay, let me go talk with the parents and see if we can set that up," Stacey says, heading to the counter.

"Well, this should be fun," Stiles says.

Stiles runs and slams himself against the wall, out of breath from running. "Where are they? Where are they? DID YOU SEE THEM?!" he asks frantically.

Scott, wild-eyed and starting to show signs of losing it frazzled, risks a look peaks over the short wall he's cowering behind. "I don't know dude! I think they got Danny again!"

"They are SO not human!"

"Would you two keep it down?!" Allison whisper-yells. "You're going to give away our position!"

A light flashes, striking Allison in the middle of the chest.

"Augh!" Allison yells. "CF-"

"Allison! Language!" Scott and Stiles say shout in unison.

(Allison apparently can apparently swears like a sailor under pressure; Stiles approves.)

Allison glares at her boyfriend and friend even as they start firing back at the source of the laser. "It's creepy when you guys talk in unison like that."

Before they can try their well-practiced 'creepy twins' routine, they hear a high-pitched yell, with language (almost) as bad as what Allison can come up with. Raising their eyebrows at each other, they turn to see Danny walking towards them with a neon-colored vest. "Recharged and I think I got one of their snipers," he says calmly.

"Whoo! Alright Danny!" Stiles yells enthusiastically, throwing his arm around Danny. His vest buzzes as another light flashes. "Oooh, I'm hit! I'm hit! Return fire!"

Laughing at him, Danny pulls Stiles behind some fake boulders for cover while Allison and Scott scramble to go find some of the other kids. "You take this quite seriously, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, totally. This is war, son! We will not lose this battle!"

Shaking his head, Danny glances at the score board. "I think it might be a little late in the game for that…"

"We will prevail! Charge!" Stiles cries as he charges into the main base. Still laughing at Stiles' enthusiasm, Danny follows, providing cover fire.

"So, those kids were…pretty impressive. I am impressed." Stiles says as the teens return the tagging equipment.

"I have to admit…" Allison says slowly, looking aroundslipping out of the vest. "…this was a lot more fun than bowling. Don't tell Lydia I said that," she asks Danny quickly.

"Oh, of course not." Danny grins, "Well, not right away anyways."

"Ooooo," Stiles crows in amusement. "Danny has some dirt on you now, Allison. Better watch out."

"Aww, crapp," she says, good-naturedly.

"Yeah, we're pretty much screwed," Scott agrees amiably. "She's going to make us do more double-dates, isn't she?"

Allison groans quietly. "Nooo…"

"Hey, I thought you liked Lydia? Dates with her can't be that bad," Stiles asks, in (mostly) mock-defense of his crush.

"Don't get me wrong, Lydia is great," Allison replies quickly. "It's just…double-dates with her are…" Allison tries to find the right word.

Surprisingly, Danny speaks up.

"Double-dates with Lydia suck."

Everyone looks at him in surprise. He shrugs in response. "She made me and my ex go on dates with her and Jackson a few times. I might be gay, but chick flicks and fancy dress-up dinners aren't my idea of a fun date."

"Dude, I hear you," Scott says, bumping Danny's shoulder. "Also, speaking of… Food?"

Danny Scott suggests hamburgers or the local diner; Scott's Danny suggests the local sushi place, while Allison votes for the local pizzapizzeria. Stiles votes seconds for pizza with an enthusiastic "We should totally go to Tony's!", which is how the teens end-up in a booth at the local pizzeria.

Sitting together in a booth, the teens amicably bicker about what type of pizza to get. Given the three of them can't decide what to order (Danny and Allison vetoing most of the obscure toppings Stiles and Scott usually order together, like seaweed), they end up ordering two separate pizzas, one for Stiles and Scott and one for Danny and Allison. In addition, they decide to add orders for buffalo wings, breadsticks, and salad.

When all of the food arrives, Allison's eyes go wide at how much they had ended up ordering ("Did we really need two orders of each side?"), but between three teen-sized appetites (and one teen werewolf), they manage to demolish everything, with very little leftover. Stiles even convinces Danny to try a bite of his seaweed-and-ginger-with-a-sesame-seed-crust pizza ("Not bad…it's almost like we went with sushi").

"Ooooh…that hit the spot," Stiles groans as he leaned back and patted his stomach.

"Dude…I can't believe we finished all of that. I think I need a nap," Danny mumbless in agreement.

Giggling at them, Allison leans over to the table poke Stiles in the stomach. "You're the one who wanted a third order of wings."

Stiles bats her hand away playfully, "Yeah, yeah…but they make the best wings." Patting his stomach again, he adds, "But Scott, next time, stop me at four slices. It's your duty as my best friend. Your holy responsibility."

Scott rolls his eyes with a laugh. "I think it would take more than me to stop you, Stiles. You're kind of…protective about your food." Stiles makes a face when the others laugh in agreement ("Hey, I shared with Danny!" "Well, he's a special case, isn't he?"). . Gently squeezing Allison around her shoulders, Scott nods his head towards the door. She nods in agreement, picking up her and Scott's jackets.

"I think we need to head out. My dad is being extra strict about curfew," she says as they slide out of the booth.

Stiles and Danny follow them out more slowly, grinning and rolling their eyes at how quickly Scott wraps an arm around Allison's waist and how closely she leans into him. "Separation anxiety is setting in," Stiles whispers, making Danny chuckle.

Once outside, Allison separates from Scott long enough to give both Stiles and a surprised Danny a tight hug. "This was fun. We should all do this again sometime, okay?"

"Yeah, totally. I liked this," Stiles says, giving Scott a hug, just because.

"I'm in," adds Danny. Scott shrugs and gives a slightly bemused Danny a hug as well. Waving at the boysto one another, Allison and Scott walk off towards Allison's car.

Stiles opens his arms and raises his eyebrows at Danny expectantly. "What?" Danny asks.

Pretending to pout, Stiles responds, "Hugs man. I thought we were doing goodbye hugs." Laughing, Danny steps in, giving Stiles a tight hug. "Happy?" he asks, arms still comfortably wrapped around Stiles. "You do know I'm giving you a ride home, so we're not actually saying goodbye yet, right?"

"Yeah, but I like hugs," Stiles says, giving him one last squeeze before letting go. "Shall we?" His phone beeps with an incoming text as they head to the car. While Danny is unlocking the doors, Stiles checks the message.

"Oh, bugger…"

Turning, Danny catches the exasperated look on Stiles' face. "What?"

Waving his phone in the air, Stiles says, "It's from Scott. He says they had a great time and that Allison says it's nice to have another couple to go out with."

Danny blinks, not quite getting what Stiles is getting at. Then it clicks. "They thought this was a double-date, didn't they?" he asks, reviewing the evening in his head as he climbs in the car.

"Yee-up,." Stiles agrees as he falls in next to Danny, clicking his seatbelt in place.

Laughing softly, Danny buckles his seatbelt and starts the car. "This is getting kind of ridiculous…"

"Tell me about it." Stiles sighs, his head falling back in his seat. "I'll talk to Scott about it tomorrow."

Smiling softly, Danny squeezed Stiles' knee gently before putting the car into gear. "Hey, no big deal," he says. Stiles flashes his (gorgeous) smile back as Danny pulls out of the parking lot.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter took me a while, because I thought it was complete when I started posting the story. But it went from about 850 words to 3,000+ since I uploaded chapter 2.

Any and all comments and constructive criticism are welcome!

* * *

It actually ends-up being two days later that Stiles gets to talk with Scott; he gets roped into an extra shift at Deaton's and then has a date with Allison. Stiles, meanwhile, had been coerced into helping out with some of the low-level filing at the Sheriff's office ("You might as well do some work if you're going to be going through my files," his dad grumbled).

They decide to go with their default pizza/videogames/movie holiday plan; it was practically tradition. Settling down with their drinks and controllers, the two teens watched the familiar logo pop on the screen, fading to a menu. Selecting their favorite drivers and course, the teens set in for a good, long night.

"Oh yeah!" Scott said as they finished the first lap. "Allison wanted me to ask if you and Danny wanted to hang out again after Christmas. She's going out of town with her family, but we were thinking the four of us could go ice skating when they get back?" He ended the question by firing off a red shell and taking the lead. "It's not laser tag, but it could be fun. We haven't been in a while, you know?"

Stiles was silent for a few moments, using the time it takes for him catch up to Scott to gather his thoughts (and lay down a few bananas for the next lap around the course). "Yeah, that sounds cool," Stiles said, finally. "But, uh, just so you guys know, we're not dating." Scott looks over at him, a slightly confused expression on his face. "Danny and me. We're not…we're just friends," Stiles clarifies.

Blinking once, Scott nods and says, "Oh, okay. That's too bad." before turning back to the screen.

Stiles frowned. He wasn't sure why, exactly, but he was kind of hoping for more. "Okay? I mean, you believe me? Just like that?"

Scott glances over again. "Well, yeah. You said you're not dating and I believe you," he says. "Besides, I can always tell when you're lying. I know all your tells." He paused, thinking about it. "Actually, I think everyone knows all of your tells; you're pretty terrible at lying, you know."

About to protest, Stiles paused to think about it too. Finally, he said, "Well, okay, that's true. But I'm still better at making up stories that gets us out of trouble."

"Yeah," Scott replies. They continued racing their Mario avatars. Stiles bounced his leg, still not quite satisfied with Scott's reaction about Danny and his non-existent relationship; before he could say anything though, Scott asked, "Hey, what do you think I should get Allison for Christmas?"

Stiles looked at him, incredulously. "Dude, what?"

Scott blinked at him owlishly. "I asked what I should get Allison for Christmas. She's leaving in a few days and I wanted to get her something."

Distracted from his thoughts about Danny, Stiles continued looking at Scott, slightly stunned (he may have been exaggerating his expression for effect). "Dude!" he said finally, lightly hitting Scott on the arm.

"What?" Scott said, squirming slightly under Stiles' look.

"Oh man…this is why you're the 'heart' and not the 'brain' of this operation," Stiles said, standing up to grab his laptop. "You should've gotten her gift ages ago, man! She's your girlfriend! That's almost as bad as forgetting to buy your mom a Christmas gift. You have to buy gifts for your significant other for Christmas." Sitting down with his laptop, he tapped a few keys to wake it up. "It'd be one thing if you didn't get me something, but, this is Allison. Heck, I even got Danny's gift already. And we're not even dating!"

Scott grinned at him suddenly. "Wait, you got Danny a Christmas gift?"

Suddenly feeling a bit warm, Stiles nodded. He had seen the travel pillow and it made him think of the times he teased Danny about what a great pillow he made and, well…Stiles' impulse control wasn't always very good. "Well, yeah. It's just kind of an in-joke between us. No big deal."

Scott kept grinning. "Are you sure you guys aren't dating? Because, I've been told that buying gifts for your friends is optional, but buying gifts for your significant other is very important."

Scoffing at having his words thrown back at him, Stiles retorted, "Do you want help finding a gift on such short notice or not?"

"Yes, please," Scott says with his best puppy dog eyes, scooting closer. Sighing, Stiles moved so the two of them were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the bed so they could brainstorm ideas for Allison's gift.

On his way to his room to finish packing, Danny stopped when someone rang the doorbell. Immediately, his oldest brother shouted from the family room, "Danny! Get the door!"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Danny shouted back, "Just because you're in college doesn't mean you're not living here, Brian!"

"Yeah, but that just means we get to boss you around less, so we have to make up for it when we're back home!" his next oldest brother shouted from the kitchen.

The doorbell rang again, but still neither of his brothers made a move to open it. The doorbell chimed a third time, followed by some knocking. When his dad started with a "Boys…" Danny walked downstairs to open the door. Danny loved his brothers, but they were such lazy bums sometimes.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to find Stiles standing on the other side, with a shapeless lump, wrapped in bright red Christmas wrapping paper in his hands. A little confused (and slightly worried he had forgotten that they had made plans), he greeted Stiles. "Hey. What's up?"

Stiles' face lit up when he saw Danny. "Merry Christmas!" he shouted gleefully. Grinning, he pushed the package forward at Danny.

Danny took the package without thinking, an automatic "Thank you" slipping out. It was a bit squishy, with a card sitting on top. "Sorry about the wrapping job," Stiles said. "It was kind of hard to wrap."

"But, I didn't get you anything," he protested as he stared at the package in his hands, still surprised (and definitely feeling pleased).

Stiles shrugged carelessly. "Meh, that's okay. I'm just great like that." He paused, grinning again. "Not everyone can live up to my standards."

Shoving Stiles lightly in response, Danny stepped outside into the privacy of the porch, closing the door behind him. "Whatever, dude." He sat down on the chilly wooden bench the Mahealani's had on the side of the porch, gesturing for Stiles to join him.

Flopping down, Stiles' legs bounced nervously. "Well?" he asked impatiently. "Are you going to open it?"

"But it's not even Christmas yet."

"Yeah, but you're heading to the islands for the holidays, right? And, well, this might be good for you to have on the flight over there. Open it!" Stiles seemed more excited about Danny opening the present than Danny was.

"Okay, okay." Danny said, smiling at Stiles' enthusiasm. Just to tease the other boy, though, he took his time, opening the card first. The front was a picture of two puppies sleeping on top of one another. On the inside, Stiles had signed it and written "A pillow for my favorite pillow" with an obnoxious smiley face. Laughing a little, Danny had a feeling he knew what his present was. Unwrapping it, he found he was right: it was a dark grey U-shaped travel pillow. Taking a moment to appreciate the soft fabric, he put it on. "How do I look?" he asked.

Stiles was flashing his best grin at Danny and opened his mouth to reply. But instead of saying anything, his jaw went slack and he just stared at Danny for a bit. Danny didn't notice Stiles reaction, though. Something made Danny's breath catch, like the way the waning sun was dancing on Stiles' face or the warm, happy sparks lighting up his (beautiful) brown eyes.

"Hey Danny. Mom wants to know if you're done packing."

Blinking, Danny leaned away from Stiles (when had he gotten so close?) looking up to see both his brothers standing in the doorway with matching expressions of amusement on their faces. "Oh, yeah. Almost done."

"Well hurry it up. Hello Stiles," Nick said, greeting to Stiles.

"Hey, 'sup," Stiles replied, (nervously?) waving nervously to the two of them. Standing, he turned to Danny. "I should let you finish packing. We'll hang out when you get back yeah?"

Nodding, Danny opened his arms to give Stiles a hug. The other boy stepped close, his arms oddly hesitant to wrap around Danny. "Thanks for the pillow," Danny murmured into Stiles' short hair.

"You're welcome. Have a good trip." Stiles said back, giving Danny one last squeeze before Danny released the hug. With another awkward wave at Brian and Nick, Stiles headed to his Jeep.

Turning to head back inside, Danny raised an eyebrow at his brothers' smirks. "What?" he asked warily.

Falling into step on either side of him, they followed him up to his room. "Sooo, Danny. Why didn't you tell us?" Nick started. "We're so disappointed. We've been back for almost two weeks and you never even brought him around to family dinner!"

"Tell you what?"

"Is he embarrassed of him?" Brian asked Nick, ignoring Danny.

"No, no. Stile is a good match. Smart," Nick replied, poorly hiding his glee. "Respectable too, being the Sheriff's son."

"Oh yes. Then maybe Danny-o is embarrassed of _us_," Brian added with a shake of his head.

"Well, I never!" Nick replied, mocking outrage. "We're lovely people!"

"Indeed we are! We get along with everyone worth getting along with!"

Reaching his room, Danny turned around to face his brothers in the doorway. What were they getting on about? He took in their expressions. Groaning to himself, he said, "Not you too…" They were doing their boyfriend-mocking routine.

"I mean, sure, maybe we scared off a boy or two…"

"Or three…or seven…" Nick corrected.

"But that's just because they were asses."

Nick nodded firmly in agreement. "Not good enough for our dear, sweet little Danny."

Rolling his eyes, Danny interjected, "You do realize at least two of those 'boys' were your friends, right?"

"Well, clearly if they're willing to be friends with us, they aren't worthy of you," Nick stated firmly.

"Obviously," Brian agreed. "Cradle robbers, the whole lot of them. Should be ashamed of themselves, trying to lead a naïve youth like you astray."

"We like Stiles much better. Not an ass and the right age. He's cute, too." Despite both being straight, both of his brothers had developed a habit of checking out other guys to vet for Danny (he would never admit it out loud, but they had good taste).

"Oh my god…" (Danny was starting to pick up Stiles' tendency to overdramatize) "Stiles and I aren't going out!"

Looking affronted, his brothers turned to one another. Becoming (a smidge) more serious, they both turned back to Danny. "Dude."

"Dude," Brian added. "You don't have to pretend."

"We were kind of there. You guys were totally about to make-out on the porch."

"Ugh, then why did you interrupt us?" Danny said, annoyed. Before they could reply (and based on their triumphant faces, Danny wasn't doing a great job of convincing them of anything), he continued. "No, never mind, there would not have been any making out. We're friends. That's it."

Nick added, "But you'd like to be more."

"It was a nice hug," Brian added thoughtfully. "I wish my friends hugged me more often."

Sighing, Nick said, "When we come back, you're bringing Stiles to dinner. He can meet all of us at the same time!"

"Ugh! We haven't even gone on a date yet! Why do I get the feeling you two are planning my wedding already? And are you sure I'm the gay one in the family?"

They were both grinning at him. "Yet!" they both exclaim enthusiastically. Patting Danny on the shoulder, Brian reiterates, "Family dinner when we get back, Danny-o." Both of them head to their respective rooms to finish their own packing, leaving Danny to his thoughts.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his brothers, Danny turned to his suitcase. His phone beeped with an incoming text message. Unlocking it, he saw it was a text from Stiles. Realizing he was grinning with a happy flutter in his chest, he had to admit that his brothers may have been onto something.

After dropping off Danny's present (and hadn't that been unexpectedly awkward), Stiles went to Scott's to pick up his best friend for more holiday hanging out. They were going to finish wrapping presents and Scott was going to gush about Allison's reaction to her present.

Stiles pulled up to the McCall residence, then jogged up the steps, letting himself in. "Yoo-hoo. Anybody home?"

"Over here!" Scott called from the family room. Stiles walked in to find Scott surrounded by rolls of wrapping paper and wrapped presents, some neatly and others not-so-neatly (Stiles' handiwork). "I'm almost done," Scott said, making another neat crease on the present he was wrapping before taping down the edge.

"Want help?" Stiles asked, plopping down next to him.

Eyeing Stiles' attempts at wrapping sitting under the plastic tree, Scott glanced up at his friend. "I think I'm okay."

Stiles laughed, but didn't protest. Making things pretty was not his strong suit. So instead, he watched as his friend finished wrapping the presents, mind wandering from topic to topic. One topic that kept coming up, though, was Danny. Something about Scott's perspective on the situation were bugging Stiles. When Scott finished, they set the packages under the tree (the Stilinskis would probably come over for Christmas Day lunch to open the presents) and they headed over to Stiles in the Jeep. Settling back down into another game of Mario Kart, Stiles finally let himself ask a question that had been bugging him.

"So…why did you think Danny and I were, you know…" he asked. "Dating, I mean."

Scott, used to Stiles' non-sequiturs, just shrugged in response. "I dunno. Just seemed like you were. He likes you. It made sense," Scott said, eyes still on the screen. "Why aren't you guys?"

"What do you mean he likes me? We don't know that he likes me. You're just saying he likes me," Stiles protested weakly.

"Werewolf's intuition, Stiles," Scott said, tapping his temple jokingly. "I just know things. So, seriously, why aren't you guys dating?"

Stiles mulled the question over while crashing Luigi into snowmen and getting knocked-off the racecourse. Joking aside, Scott had always had excellent instincts, even before the werewolf shenanigans. While Stiles was better at planning and ideas, Scott was usually the one who made the important intuitive leaps that connected ideas together (how that translated to Scott excelling at math, neither of them had been able to explain). They both knew Stiles was only half-kidding when he called Scott the heart to Stiles' brain.

"Do you like him?" Scott asked, maneuvering Wario around a snow bank.

Stiles chewed on his lip, thinking it over. Did he like Danny? Well, obviously he _likes_ Danny, everyone likes Danny, but does he (Stiles refused to use the word "like" twice in a row, even in his own head) was he _attracted to_ him? He could see that Danny was an attractive guy objectively. And fun to hang out with. The guy had good tastes in music and comics, _Daredevil_ appreciation aside. He was a nice guy, even. But was that attraction?

Scott gently nudged Stiles, breaking his reverie. Stiles looked up to Scott's Wario taking a victory lap. "You're overthinking it. The answer is: yes, you do like him." The eyebrow waggle Scott tacked on at the end was unnecessary. "He likes you and you like him. So why aren't you guys dating?"

Stiles opened his mouth to scoff at the idea. But then, he started thinking, about how a part of him melted a little when Danny really grinned at him or how Stiles' felt a little warm something whenever he got a text from Danny…and how awesome it felt to wake-up from those (three or four) impromptu naps, partly laying on top of Danny.

Or earlier that day, when Danny was sitting next to him on the porch. In the privacy of his own head, Stiles maybe thought they had had a, well, _a moment_. And Stiles kind of wondered what would have happened if they hadn't been interrupted. Maybe Danny would have…you know…kissed him? (Stiles would not have minded if he had).

…and maybe that was his answer.

"Oh. My. God…" he said, finally.

Scott threw an arm casually around Stiles' shoulders, giving him a shoulder hug. "Good morning, Stiles. Enjoying the clue-by-four?"

"Oh my god!"

Scott laughed at him, fondly.

"OH MY GOD!"

Danny checked the caller on his phone as it rang. He felt his face stretch into a smile when he saw it was Stiles (he firmly didn't think about what that meant). "Hey Stiles. What's up? Missing me already? It's only been a few hours since we saw each other last."

"Danny. Hey, hi, hello. How are you?" He sounded a little out of breath, but that might have been the connection.

"I'm good. Almost done packing. You?" he responded, reaching for another shirt to put away.

"I'm…good too. Fine. Good. Um…"

There was a pause in the conversation. Danny waited to see if Stiles was going to continue. After a few more seconds, he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, no, everything's fine. I think. Right? Right." Stiles took a deep breath; Danny had to laugh a little at Stiles. He had learned that it usually worked best to let Stiles put his thoughts in order and work out what he wanted to say. "So…Scott and I were talking. And Allison wanted to go on another double-date."

"Okay."

"And I told Scott that we weren't dating. And he was cool with that."

"O…kay?" Danny said (he told himself he wasn't disappointed). "So, that's…good right?"

"Right, yes. Um…but…he, uh, also said that you, maybe, might…kind of like me? And that kind of got me thinking. Like, you have awesome dimples. We have a lot of fun together. You're nice, I'm nice, and you're nice to nap with. So…um…you know…it might be…nice. Together?"

A white roar was raging in Danny's head, warm, but surprised. "Are you…did you…" Swallowing, Danny started again. "Stiles, are you asking me if I'll go out with you?"

"Um…I mean, I know people keep thinking we already are. And…uh…would it be so bad? Okay, yeah, yes, I know, it was a crazy idea. Silly, right? Haha…" Stiles blew out a breath.

"Okay."

"Okay? Okay. Yeah, I know, just, never mind. Sometimes Scott puts crazy ideas in my head. We take turns with it," he continued.

"Stiles."

"I mean, like there was the time I said we should sled down the roof. And then he suggested the thing with the rocket. And then there was that whole lacrosse thing, though that one actually worked out, so, you know…"

"Stiles!" Danny half-shouted, laughing. "Yes."

"Yes? What? Wait…" Stiles took a deep breath, then let it out. "What?"

"Yes. I'd like to go on a date with you."

"Wait, really? Yes?" Stiles paused. "Really?"

Danny swallowed, blood roaring in his ears. Trying for casual, he said, "Yeah. Yes. I'd like to. I think we, we could have fun."

"Really?"

Feeling like his smile was going to split his face open, Danny replied, "Yeah. I, uh, I'd like to."

Stiles didn't respond. Feeling a little more nervous, Danny asked, "Hello? Stiles, you there?"

"I'm here. I'm just…processing. I, uh, wow. This is…wow…"

Swallowing again, Danny asked, "Wow? Is wow…good?"

"Yes, no, yes! Absolutely good!" Stiles said quickly. "I'm just…I mean. You're awesome. Like, seriously great. Augh! I mean, yes, of course I like you and, wow, you said yes."

Letting out a relieved chuckle, Danny said, "Okay, good. You were making me nervous there."

"No, no no…that's not what I…wait, really?" he seemed a little too pleased (Danny absolutely did not think it was cute).

"…yes," Danny admitted (okay, maybe it was a little cute).

"Well…um…wow. So, we're going to go on a date. Together. Like, officially." Danny heard Stiles take a breath. "Okay, sorry, but my brain is kind of short-circuiting right now. Like, all I'm hearing is white noise."

Danny had to laugh. "But it'll have to be after I get back from my trip. We're leaving in a few hours." Danny said regretfully.

"Right, that's cool. Awesome. It's, uh, something to look forward too. Hey, get me something cool! Like, a piece of a volcano or something!"

Danny laughed. "Aw, are we already at the gift-giving stage? Or are you asking me to court you?"

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I'm just playing hard-to-get. Gotta buy me pretty things."

"Right, because you're just so high maintenance."

"Totally." Danny could hear the smile in Stiles' voice. "But, uh…you really don't have to. It'd be cool, but, you know, mostly I just…uh, want to see you." Stiles breathed out, muttering to himself. "No, I mean, I just want to hang out with you. Not that seeing you isn't great too, I just…don't want you to think I'm sappy and needy."

"I'd like to see you to," Danny said quietly, feeling a blush building under his skin, suddenly glad they were talking over the phone. Waving to his dad that he had almost finished packing, he told Stiles, "Hey, I should probably finish packing. But, um, yeah. You and me. A date, when I get back."

"Yes. That sounds…really awesome. Thank you." Stiles laughed. "Wait, is it weird for me to say thank you? It feels kind of weird. Anyways, have a good trip! Safe travels, may you not have any screaming toddlers or kicking kids, etcetera, etcetera."

"Thanks Stiles. Happy holidays. See you when I get back."

"I can hardly wait."

Danny smiled. "Me too."

Hanging up the phone, Danny went back to checking his bags. This was going to be something else; Stiles wasn't much like the other guys Danny had dated, which made him more than a little nervous. But the memory of Stiles' profile, carelessly laughing at an episode Red Dwarf, rose in his mind unbidden, bringing an answering smile to his face. Danny decided he was looking forward to different.


End file.
